Curran e



(NoModeL) c. E. MGDON'ALD.

CLOTHES LINE STAY.

Patented Mar. 8, 1887.

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UNITED STATES CURRAN MCDONALD, on NEW YORK, x. v.

CLOTHESPLINE STAY.

" SPECIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,025,6ated March 8, 19$? Applix-al-ion filed August 13, 1885. l

PATENT Ornate.

Serial No. 174,277. (Xn model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that l, CURRAN E. MCDONAI'J), a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Line Stay, of which the following is a specification.

The nature and object of the invention will be fully understood from the following description and the annexed drawings.

Figure I illustrates clothes line with my stay on it, and also in dotted outline illustrates the position of a loaded pulley clothes-line without my stay on it; Figs. II, III, and IV are various views of my clothes-line stay.

In cities and many other places where the inhabitants live in tenement-houses several stories high it is-usual for a clothes-line to be stretched. fromone of the windows of the story in which the family resides to a post in the yard, as is illustrated by Fig. I of the accompanying drawings, in which an represents a part of the window-frame; n, the post; m and a, the hooks which attach thepulleys m" and 02. Between these two pulleys is extended the clothes-line w w. The ends of this line are tied together, so that it may be moved on the pulleys like an endless belt. The clothes to be dried are hung on the lower member of the line. As the number of the clothes on the line is increased their weight causes the lower member to sag and the upper member of the line to grow taut until the line assumes the position illustrated by the dotted line r'r. Whenthe'line is so loaded and sagged it is found extremely difficult to draw it up toward the window to bring the clot-hes near enough to the window to take them off, no matter how loose the line may be. It has been also found that if there be any weak place in the lower member of the line it is apt to break there when so loaded and sagged, and that lines in this condition often get tangled with adjacent lines, and thereby cause a great deal of trouble and loss of time.

My invention relates to that gclass of improvements which have been devised to obviate these difficulties.

My stay may be made of wood, hard rubber, metal, or any other suitable material.

In the example of my invention here given,

and which is illustrated by Figs. II, III, and

when anotherstay may be put on.

IV of the-accompanying drawings, the mate-1:. I?

Any other elastic wire orstrip ot'properagain bent at b to form the double or twolpart 50 hook p b d. The end 1) is bent outward,.and the stem (1 k is bent at d to flare theentrauce of this hook and so as to leave a narrowert; part of the throat or entry at d. The parallel arms are again bent at t to form the double or two-part hook it t h, and again bent at k and h to flare the entrance of this hook, the parts tand t are lastly bent apart at h and k, the whole device to be as illustrated in Figs. II, IIL-and IV.

To use my invention, as many pieces of clothing or other articles as may be desired are put on the lower member of the line, moving the lineeach time a piece is put on to make room for the next. As soon as the line the clothes and the window., The smaller hook of the stay is first slipped on, so as to embrace the lower member of the line, with 5 begins to sag badly, astay is put on between one side of each part of this hook fitting into a depression between two of the adjacent strands of the line, and each parthis hook compressing this member of the line so that it will not slip thereon. When this smaller hook is so adjusted on the lower member of the line 8 5 the larger hook is slipped upon the upper member of the line. The line is then moved to carrythe stay away from the window and make room foranother piece of clothing. Thus the clothes are put on, moving theline for each 0 piece until the line is unduly sagged again, This may be continued until the line is full. As the stay does not slip on the lower member of the line, but does on the upper member thereof, 5

that part of the lower member of the line to which the stay is attachedcarries the stay with it at every motion, so that by properly moving the line any desired number of stays,

if rightly adjusted, can be carried to any de- [00 sired place between the two pulleys. \Vhen the line is loaded with clothes and my stays are on it, it occupies the position shown in solid lines in Fig. I, and my stays upon the line will be as designated by on v of the same figure.

It .will now found, if the wind be blowing enough to cause the line to spring up and down, that the upper part of the line will not pass down through thenarrow throat or entry at d, nor will the lowcrpartyof the line pass through the narrow throator entry at k, and that while the two parts ofthe line are held close together, they are also held so far apart that the upper part of the line will not strike on or get foul of'the clothes-pins on the lower part of the lineto make them loose and leave the clothes insufiiciently fastened on the line.

When the clothes are to bereznoved from the line, the lower member is drawn up toward the window near enough for the operator to reach the first piece of clothing. This piece is then taken 01% and the lin'e moved so as to bring the next piece within reach, and so on, until oneof the stays, comes within reach. Then the stay, on account of its shape and its elasticity, will be easily slipped off without in any way derangingthe line, and may then be put into the-same receptacle'with the clothesjpins. Thisproccss may be continued until rent all the clothes and all the stays are off the line.

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat- An elastic clothes-line stay composed of one .piece of yire bent so as to form two double hooks of different size connected by a double shank or stem, the smaller hook being adapted to fit closely to one member of a pulley clothesline, having its point bent outwardly to flare its entry, haying a narrow part or throat in said entry between said flare and the interior of said hook, and having its two parts bent apart and adaptedso that when put on said line they will fit into the depressions between the strands of said line, the other hook being large enough to slip freely on the other memi mmmnnmwl Ma 

